During your time as a student, money worries can be a big distraction. To cope with financial stresses, it is important to focus on additional funding and income boost options available to you during your time at University to ensure financial hardship can be avoided where possible.

Although you may have plans of financial support during your time at University, we also understand that unexpected circumstances may lead to financial struggles during your studies. You may find some of the options below can help you through periods of financial difficulty.

Part time work

One way in which you can maximise your income during your time at University is to find flexible part time work to work in Manchester during term time or flexibly at home during breaks and holidays. Working part time can also be a great way to enhance your CV and gain valuable experience for your future career.

You can use the Students’ Union Job Shop to search for student friendly part time work vacancies in Manchester. You can sign up to Job Shop here.

Part time jobs are also advertised through the University’s Careerslink website.

The University’s Careers Service is also a valuable resource for developing your employability skills. Access practical guidance and support on writing your CV, completing job applications and preparing for interview and much more.

For most courses, it’s recommended that you don’t work more than 15 hours per week but this can vary depending what you are studying. It’s important to check if there are any specific requirements for your course. If you are worried about undertaking part time work during your degree we advise that you speak to a staff member from your School such as your Academic Advisor or Programme Director to determine whether this is the best option for your studies.

We appreciate that trying to find flexible employment during this time may be very difficult and we have provided you with information on a few more options of financial support for your time at University below.

Student overdraft facilities

Another way to maximise your income during your studies is to use a Student Bank Overdraft facility. An overdraft is when a bank lets you spend more money than is in your account up to a pre-agreed sum. This can be a great way to have some emergency cash flow in times of unexpected financial difficulty.

A wide variety of banks offer student accounts with an overdraft, which ranges from £500 to £3000. The overdraft usually have 0% interest and banks can offer flexibility in paying this back once your studies come to an end.

Please bear in mind that if you use an unarranged overdraft, you may be charged fees by your bank.

Further information and guidance on banking is available here.

Foodbank vouchers

Despite efforts to maximise income, we understand that unexpected short term financial difficulties may occur. In these circumstances you may be worried about affording food.

Our advisors can chat through these difficulties with you and determine whether a single use foodbank voucher is a suitable offer support for your case.

Our advisors are able to issue vouchers for the food bank network within Greater Manchester via an online referral system. The Manchester Central Foodbank is based on campus in the Catholic Chaplaincy opposite the Students’ Union building. This foodbank specialises in supporting students.

A food parcel usually contains 3 to 4 days’ worth of food. They can often be adapted to suit a range of dietary requirements such as halal, vegetarian of if you have any allergies. Please talk to the Foodbank team upon your arrival about adjusting your food parcel.

If you are struggling financially and would like some extra support in the form of a foodbank voucher, please get in touch with one of our advisors by emailing advice.su@manchester.ac.uk.

Advice Service Emergency Loan

There may be certain times where using an overdraft facility, a foodbank voucher or asking friends and family for support is not enough.

The Advice Service offers a small emergency loan scheme for students in times of short term financial hardship or to help tide you over if you are waiting for a payment to come through.

This is a loan of up to £100 which you can access through the Advice Service by having a short financial assessment with one of our advisors. An assessment appointment must be booked at least one day in advance.

To be eligible for an appointment you must confirm your student status with us by showing us a valid student card and have access to online banking. If you have previously used our emergency loan scheme we also ask that you provide evidence for the repayment of the previous loan so that we are able to consider you for a new emergency loan.

If you would like to enquire about applying for an emergency loan you can get in touch with the service by emailing advise.su@manchester.ac.uk with a picture of your student card, details of your circumstances and if relevant, evidence of the repayment of any previous loans with us.

Our advisors will determine your eligibility for this loan during the appointment using a questionnaire which focuses on your financial situation such as your income and expenses.

If successful, we ask that you set up a standing order via your online banking app for the loan total on the agreed repayment date and provide us with evidence for this which can be in the form of a screenshot of the standing order confirmation.

If you have any other worries or queries surrounding your finances, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us!